Geron Kees

I agree with that. I used to use Chrome, and it is possibly the best overall browser out there. I just have a thing for Google and Microsoft that I have trouble getting around. Both have screwed me over in the past, and I am not forgiving of some things, especially the way those two do them. Opera is Chromium-based, just like Chrome, and has been extremely good to me. I also use the CyberFox spin-off of FireFox, but don't find it as speedy or as efficient as Opera. But I do have to say that, between the two of them, I have yet to run into a site that doesn't work properly for one or the other. There are other good browsers out there. I just stick with what works for me. Hmm. Kind of like you!

Opera performs much the same for me in Linux as it does in Windows. Site server software runs to the same standards, no matter the underlying operating system. Given that servers and browsers all should be standardized in connection and display protocols, no matter the OS on either end of the connection, it's interesting that they seem not to be, one-hundred percent of the time. Open-sourced server software, and open-sourced browsers, are the most subject to tinkering. I run several flavors of Linux, and the default copies of FireFox that came with them are all different. Too many people want to 'customize', and that leads to changes that affect operation standards. Opera, at least, performs consistently across all platforms, so far. I do not use Chrome at all, just as I do not use Google's search engine. If these people want to follow me around, let 'em do it on foot!

I know. And I also know that things are not universal for everyone. If we were exactly the same, can you imagine us having a conversation? Ugh! "Hi. Were you...?" "Yes. I had to..." "Oh, I know, Isn't it awful that..." "Yes!" "It makes me so..." "...mad! I want to..." "...scream! Don't you think..." "Of course! It's just like..." "...you said before. I think we should..." "..stop going there. Well, it's always nice..." "...to talk to me, Um, you!"

They always have something to do. Usually, it's behind closed doors, though!

I agree. Microsoft is not the center of the universe, much as they wish it to be so. I only have two machines left that run Windows. The rest run Linux. Eventually, they will all run Linux. The blending of all these different formats is not always harmonious, as you say. But a browser works the same way no matter the OS, and so should still present the same way, no matter the OS. Browser standards are well-published. So...I guess we're back to gremlins again!

I use Opera with Windows or Opera with Linux to read here, and I have never had a presentation problem. Hard to say what's going on. Ivor and I both write in BlueGriffon, an HTML page designer, and so what we post here are actual webpages. GA's editor has always seemed to like the HTML just fine, and so do the other three sites I post on. But weird things happen. If it's just one story now and then, and not all of them, I would not blame the HTML. GA's reader has presets that are supposed to show all stories the same unless the reader makes personal changes. So... Just goes to show you that there really ARE gremlins!

Hi again! Thanks for the nice words. Charlie and Kip were bewildered that they had so little to do this round, but they very much enjoyed the few lines they were given!

Ohmigosh! I hope you can see my text okay, DQ! If you were to stop reading my stories, I'd lose 50% of my comments right off the bat! I hope your browser properly indicated that I was kidding you!

I see someone else mentioned the excessive width problem AFTER I replaced the file. So It wasn't that I did anything different that seems to have caused this. I have seen oddities in the presentation of HTML on sites before, and it seems to be the way the site is presenting or the browser is reacting. Sometimes, changing browsers corrects the problem. The bottom line is, HTML is not all created equal, and some iterations spook some browsers some of the time. P.T. Barnum would no doubt be amused.

Try it again. I replaced the file with one directly from my HTML editor. If that doesn't cure your problem, I don't know what to say. If it DOES fix it, I know what NOT to do in the future!

Well, the guys missed Samhain last year, Imbolc this month, and will probably miss Beltane this May, and Lughnasadh this August. Sorry. It doesn't make them bad people. Just busy!

Actually...this could conceivably be my fault. I depend on the viewer here to be smart enough to know how to interpret the HTML from my BlueGriffon. I usually just copy the text from the editor and paste it here. I was in a hurry this time and simply displayed the file in FireFox and copied it in browser mode and pasted it here. It displays fine in both of my browsers, but it could conceivably introduce a problem for some, depending on browser settings. I won't do that again in the future. Anyone else that has display problems, let me know, and I'll see about replacing the file.

Sorry that the skwish oozed out the side of the screen! That has to be your browser, as I tried looking at this in both Opera and FireFox, and it looks fine. You've had this difficulty before, right? Are you sure your zoom is not really ZOOMED? Go back to the page and try holding down the Ctrl key and using your mousewheel (draw it towards you) to zoom out. The reverse zooms in. Ctrl and +, and Ctrl and - both do the same thing. Ctrl and zero reset the default zoom.

Hmm. I may have missed a great opportunity. After completing this short tale, I should have done an equally short one on Valentine's Day for Rick and Adrian. Well, there's always Emperor Penguin Appreciation Day!

Thank you!

They're all just too close right now. Same problem as with Valentine's Day. I need to complete the other story first. And you missed March 7th - Emperor Penguin Appreciation Day.

Hi, DQ! Old Windbag me, huh? Haha. That sounds like a particularly cheap brand of country whiskey! Like I said, many more holidays left in the year. I just need to finish the tale I'm working on now.

Thank you, too. Charlie and Kip are one of my favorite story lines, and I usually get very wrapped up in writing their tales. I just didn't want to lose my thread on my other story this time. There are plenty of holidays left in the year. These guys will be back.

I was very busy with things just now, and in the middle of writing a long story in chapters. I felt that breaking into it to write a Charlie Boone tale might kill my impetus on the current story, and so I wasn't going to do one. But this idea suggested itself, and it was short...and here we are. Consider it a Valentine's Day card. Thanks!

This small story presupposes that you are at least a little familiar with the world that Charlie and Kippy live in. If you're not, you may not get the magic. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Kippy Lawson sat in his boyfriend's bedroom and watched as Charlie Boone put the finishing touches on the painting. The small canvas was covered in swirls and patterns of many color

A short Valentine's Day story set in the Charlie Boone universe.

Wonderful! Um...is it hot in here?

Amen, brother!

Well...gosh. When you say it that way, what can I say but...okay!

I ha' a wee bit of Scots blood on me da's side, m'boy. Anno it's a wee, but it does make me a bit o' a sook, at times!